Get yer tickets

Before we begin, there's much ado about the new Team Randy Ferbey unis this fall. And as the CurlingZone photo (above) from the PriceWaterhouseCoopers Westcoast Classic shows, there's a bit of long hair goin' on with the front end. By the way, the shoes are yellow and black too, courtesy of Asham.

The Ferbs made the semis at that event, BTW, and are currently ranked #3 on The Curling News Top 15 list.

Tickets, tickets, get yer tickets... the 2007 Tim Hortons Brier tickets go on sale today, with a variety of packages up for grabs, such as the Grand Opener, the Night Owl, the Early Riser and, of course, the Grand Champion. Hurry hard, folks, because the show – at Hamilton's Copps Coliseum in March – is not to be missed.

Meanwhile, BDO Dunwoody has returned as a Grand Slam of Curling sponsor, and their third consecutive BDO Canadian Open hits the ice at Winnipeg's MTS Centre – site of the 2008 Brier – in late January. Various Peg media stories – here and here, plus Paul Wiecek's subscription-only Free Press – have the ticket sales story from that region; they are also on sale now.

Not to be outdone on the Slam front is the growing hoopla over the first event, Waterloo's Masters of Curling.

In addition:

• It's always good to see some grass roots curling news hit the Quebec papers ... just one small note: many Quebec athletes qualified for the recent Canadian Olympic team, but no curlers (or so we think?) ...

• Tonight, the Nova Scotia Sports Hall of Fame welcomes curling builder Murial Fage. Still an active curling volunteer, Fage is battling cancer as she serves on the Board of Directors of the Sandra Schmirler Foundation ... which has a new pin available this season, as well as a new partnership with their first curling event fundraiser: the venerable Kurl for Kids in Toronto, merely the world’s largest charity bonspiel with over $1.7 million earned since 1990. And in related news, the Schmirler Curling Classic – the Regina staple on the women's side of the Asham World Curling Tour – has a new title sponsor, CU Electronic Transaction Services ...

• Sun Media's Rob Brodie offers another Nancy Lee commentary here ...

• This rivethead doesn’t like Team Annette Norberg's entry into heavy metal mania. We politely disagree. In your face, Fist! ...

• Here's a Solvakian media report on their nation’s progress at the European Mixed, which wraps up in Italy on Sunday...

• A recent announcement saw Kruger Products offically take over the name of Scott Paper Ltd., the long-standing sponsor of Canadian women's curling since 1982. The event, now in its 26th year, is now known as the Scotties Tournament of Hearts.

Event guru Robin Wilson spoke to The Curling News:

What is truly amazing is that a company that has changed hands three times since 1995 has maintained its long time sponsorship of women's curling in Canada. I think I can speak for women curlers across Canada when I say how much this sponsorship continues to mean to us and how we will continue to support the company and its products as it (with its changing faces) continues to support us.

You can read more about the origins of the sponsorship – it really is a fascinating story – in the upcoming November issue of TCN.

• Read The Curling News every month and check out our new feature, Asham Club Corner, for cool newsbites from the club curling world. Like this: the classic shopping mall exhibit is a tried and true way of promoting a club in the community, just check out this display in Bathurst, New Brunswick this week. Any other clubs still doing this? It’s a no-brainer, folks...

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• The 20-team Lady Monctonian Invitational tourney, which runs from today through Sunday at the Beausejour Curling Club in Moncton, New Brunswick, may feature the first head-to-head battle between Colleen Jones – now third for Team Kay Zinck – and her old squad, which now has TCN correspondent Mary-Anne Arsenault throwing skip rocks. It may not be a true battle to some, however, as Arsenault sparkplug Kim Kelly has been replaced by PEI import Nancy Cameron for this event.

As Jones told the Halifax Daily News this week:

They’re just an opponent to me now. But that’s the same way I look at everybody else. I tend to look at the whole field and not just one team.

• Finally... hold on to your seats, folks, and enjoy this retro curling promo from 1986, originating from Manitoba. Anyone recognize some of the faces?